bad times??

this should have been up on sunday, but i've been sick and lazy.... =P

so on sunday, we had a guest speaker for sunday sermon, and she talked about john 9:1-5, and i think this lesson is very useful and it can apply to anyone.

1As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. 4As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work. 5While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

the speaker pointed out that bad stuff do happen all the time, in this case, the man is blind. and most of the time, people tend to think that it has to be someone's fault when bad things happen, in this case, the disciples asked whether the sin of the man or the sin of his parents caused him to be blind. but Jesus told them that no one has sinned to cause that, but rather it happened so that God's work might be displayed in his life. in the same way, when bad things happen, some people might think that it is God that is punishing them for the things that they have done, but in reality God is allowing those things to happen in order to show His awesomeness, His sovereignty, His grace, His promises, to us. a lot of times, we are just so busy with our lives, and we often miss a lot of little things that are grace from God which we take them for granted. someone has once told me that these so-called "bad times" is a way where God uses them to draw our attentions back to him, to remind us that we need Him, to show us that He will never forsake us because He loves us so much. everything happens for a reason, its never a mistake, never a coincidence, because God has planned it. and this song just reminded me of this:

bring the rain by mercyme-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8HgAVenbUU

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You

Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

I am yours regardless of the clouds that may loom above
because you are much greater than my pain
you who made a way for me
suffering your destiny so tell me whats a little rain

Jesus has once said this in john 16:33- "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." He promised that hard times and storms will come for sure, but at the same time, we will have peace and joy because we know that He is God and He has overcome this world, and as long as we rely on him, we will be fine. and dont forget, hard times are the times to bring God the glory, praise, and thanksgiving, because He just so awesome!!

speaking of bad times, my car got towed on monday night when i went to kcm bible study. it was really ironic that i was the only one that got towed out of everyone who parked there, and i think i was the only one to ask if it was ok to park in that parking lot to make sure. so what happen was that i parked at a space where the tenant is still living there, and that person called the towing company to tow my car. it costed me $150 for getting my car back, which is the amount of my last paycheck. i wasnt really angry with God because of that, but i was thinking why it happened. i think because of that incident, it made me realize that as a Christian, we often make a lot of compromises. in this case, i made a compromise of parking at a place where i know in the first place that im not supposed to park, and thinking that it is ok to break that "law". and i remember jim has once said that whenever we start making compromises, we will continue to make them, and by the time we realize it, we are already drifting far away from God. he gave an example of missing 1 youth fellowship in a month, then a person might think its ok to miss a sunday school lesson in a month, and eventually a sunday service in a month, and slowly that person might think its ok to miss 2, and then 3, then 4, and then that person might think its ok to just come to church on special occassions. by the time that person realizes it, (s)he never come to church anymore. so, it is really important to keep our actions in check, avoid making little compromises, because it will become big compromises that pull us away from God. remember, satan is too sneaky, so be careful!!

and some questions about serving that pop into my head:
1) whats my attitude in serving at church currently?
2) am i serving enough?/ should i serve more?
3) what is God calling me to do to serve others? where is He calling me to serve at?

i need to pray more!!!! >_<